100 Greatest Male Acting Performances
1920-1969

Movie actors Peter Sellers and Marlon Brando
Criteria: These perfomances are based on characterization, charisma, intensity, and mainly on how well the actor portrayed the role. The genre of the role has no affect on its placement. Comedy, drama, and action, as well as both leading roles and supporting roles were all given a fair consideration.

Last Updated: 2017-10-02
Greatest Male Acting Performances 1920-1969
  Movie Title - Movie Actor (Year)

  1. On The Waterfront - Marlon Brando - 1954
  2. Dr. Strangelove - Peter Sellers - 1964
  3. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - James Stewart - 1939
  4. The Bridge On The River Kwai - Alec Guinness - 1957
  5. Hamlet - Laurence Olivier - 1948
  6. Rebel Without a Cause - James Dean - 1955
  7. Casablanca - Humphrey Bogart - 1942
  8. High Noon - Gary Cooper - 1952
  9. Citizen Kane - Orson Wells - 1941
10. North by Northwest - Cary Grant - 1959
11. To Kill a Mockingbird - Gregory Peck - 1962
12. Once Upon a Time in the West - Henry Fonda - 1968
13. A Streetcar Named Desire - Marlon Brando -1951
14. City Lights - Charles Chaplin - 1931
15. The Maltese Falcon - Humphrey Bogart - 1941
16. Stalag 17 - William Holden - 1953
17. Night of the Hunter - Robert Mitchum - 1955
18. From Here to Eternity - Montgomery Clift - 1953
19. Psycho - Anthony Perkins - 1960
20. From Here To Eternity - Burt Lancaster - 1953
21. 12 Angry Men - Henry Fonda - 1957
22. It's a Wonderful Life - James Stewart - 1946
23. White Heat - James Cagney - 1949
24. The Great Dictator - Charles Chaplin - 1940
25. Boys Town - Spencer Tracy - 1938
26. The Philadelphia Story - James Stewart - 1940
27. Kind Hearts and Coronets - Alec Guinness - 1949
28. The African Queen - Humphrey Bogart - 1951
29. Yankee Doodle Dandy - James Cagney - 1942
30. Lawrence of Arabia - Peter O'Toole - 1962
31. Touch of Evil - Orson Wells - 1958
32. On The Waterfront - Rod Steiger - 1954
33. The Third Man - Orson Welles - 1949
34. The Lost Weekend - Ray Milland - 1945
35. Rear Window - James Stewart - 1954
36. His Girl Friday - Cary Grant - 1940
37. The Apartment - Jack Lemmon - 1960
38. Mutiny On The Bounty - Charles Laughton - 1935
39. Notorius - Claude Rains - 1946
40. M - Peter Lorre - 1931
41. Elmer Gantry - Burt Lancaster - 1960
42. Some Like It Hot - Jack Lemmon - 1959
43. The Searchers - John Wayne - 1956
44. Gone With The Wind - Clarke Gable - 1939
45. A Place in the Sun - Montgomery Clift - 1951
46. Wuthering Heights - Laurence Olivier - 1939
47. The Graduate - Dustin Hoffman - 1967
48. Death of a Salesman - Frederic March - 1951
49. The Grapes of Wrath - Henry Fonda - 1940
50. In the Heat of the Night - Sydney Portier - 1967
51. Cape Fear - Robert Mitchum - 1962
52. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town - Gary Cooper - 1936
53. The Gold Rush - Charlie Chaplin - 1925
54. Sunset Boulevard - William Holden - 1950
55. It Happened One Night - Clarke Gable - 1934
56. Vertigo - James Stewart - 1958
57. East of Eden - James Dean - 1955
58. Rashomon - Toshiro Mifune - 1950
59. Notorius - Cary Grant - 1946
60. Shadow Of A Doubt - Joseph Cotten - 1943
61. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - Claude Rains - 1939
62. Viva Zapata - Marlon Brando - 1952
63. Bonnie and Clyde - Warren Beatty - 1967
64. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - Humphrey Bogart - 1948
65. Dr. Strangelove - George C. Scott - 1964
66. Spartacus - Kirk Douglas - 1960
67. Birdman of Alcatraz - Burt Lancaster - 1962
68. Bullitt - Steve McQueen - 1968
69. The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly - Clint Eastwood - 1966
70. 12 Angry Men - Lee J. Cobb - 1957
71. From Russia With Love - Sean Connery - 1964
72. The Manchurian Candidate - Frank Sinatra - 1962
73. Strangers On A Train - Robert Walker - 1951
74. Casablanca - Claude Rains - 1942
75. Arsenic And Old Lace - Cary Grant - 1944
76. The Maltese Falcon - Peter Lorre - 1941
77. Spellbound - Gregory Peck - 1945
78. None But The Lonely Heart - Cary Grant - 1944
79. On The Waterfront - Karl Malden - 1954
80. Rebecca - Laurence Olivier - 1940
81. The Defiant Ones - Sydney Poitier - 1958
82. Marty - Ernest Borgnine - 1955
83. The Entertainer - Laurence Olivier - 1960
84. Days of Wine and Roses - Jack Lemmon - 1962
85. Henry V - Laurence Olivier - 1944
86. The Band Wagon - Fred Astaire - 1953
87. Lilies of the Field - Sydney Poitier - 1963
88. True Grit - John Wayne - 1969
89. Hud - Paul Newman - 1963
90. The Wizard of Oz - Ray Bulger - 1939
91. Captains Courageous - Spencer Tracy - 1937
92. Little Ceaser - Edward G. Robinson - 1930
93. Othello - Laurence Olivier - 1965
94. Harvey - James Stewart - 1950
95. Cyrano de Bergerac - Jose Ferrer - 1950
96. Sayonara - Marlon Brando - 1957
97. The Best Years of Our Lives - Frederic March - 1946
98. Sergeant York - Gary Cooper - 1941
99. Duck Soup - Groucho Marx - 1932
100. Gigot - Jackie Gleason - 1962
Honerable Mentions
The Awful Truth - Cary Grant - 1937
A Man for All Seasons - Paul Scofield - 1966
A Night at the Opera - Groucho Marx - 1935
Ball of Fire - Gary Cooper - 1941
Becket - Peter O'Toole - 1964
Ben-Hur - Charlton Heston - 1959
Bringing Up Baby - Cary Grant - 1938
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - Paul Newman - 1958
Champion - Kirk Douglas - 1949
Cool Hand Luke - Paul Newman - 1967
Dr. Strangelove - Sterling Hayden - 1964
The Fortune Cookie - Walter Matthau - 1966
The Fortune Cookie - Jack Lemmon - 1966
Giant - Rock Hudson - 1956
The General - Buster Keaton - 1927
The Great Escape - Steve McQueen - 1963
High Sierra - Humphrey Bogart - 1941
Its a Gift - W.C. Fields - 1934
Key Largo - Edward G. Robinson - 1948
The King and I - Yul Brynner - 1956
The Ladykillers - Alec Guinness - 1955
Watch On The Rhine - Paul Lukas -1943
The Lion in Winter - Peter O'Toole - 1968
The Man in the White Suit - Alec Guinness - 1951
Midnight Cowboy - Dustin Hoffman - 1969
Monsieur Verdoux - Charles Chaplin - 1947
Oliver Twist - Alec Guinness - 1948
Out of the Past - Robert Mitchum - 1947
Pillow Talk - Rock Hudson - 1959
Planet of the Apes - Roddy McDowell - 1968
The Public Enemy - James Cagney - 1931
The Quiet Man - John Wayne - 1952
Richard III - Laurence Olivier - 1955
Singin' in the Rain - Gene Kelly - 1952
Singin' in the Rain - Donald O'Connor - 1952
Spartacus - Laurence Olivier - 1960
Top Hat - Fred Astaire - 1935
Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf? - Richard Burton - 1966
The Wild One - Marlon Brando - 1953
Yojimbo - Toshiro Mifune - 1961







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